KDDI au grabs 60% of one-seg handset market share

If you stop somebody at the streets of Tokyo who is watching digital broadcasting TV on his mobile handset and ask who is his carrier provider, chances are high the answer will be KDDI au. Having started selling its first one-seg model – the Sanyo W33SA (discontinued) – in December 2005, KDDI au expanded its one-seg portfolio to 12 models, resulting in two million units sold as of February 23, 2007. According to GfK Japan, au group has sold more one-seg compatible handsets than its rivals, grabbing 59.96% of the total market share. The early start and variety of one-seg models predetermined its leading position. In related news, the U.S. based MobiTV announced that it has crossed the two-million subscriber mark. It took some seven years for the company to get off the ground and sign up its first million customers, which it announced last April. Scoring its second million took just 10 months.